A Study in Sin and Virtue

Few periods in history have the ability to simultaneously intrigue and repel us as does the Holocaust.  In this lesson, we will not focus on the historical aspects of the Holocaust, but rather will look at the moral and ethical questions which it raises, for indeed the experiences of the perpetrators of the Holocaust and those victimized by them can show us both the worst and best that is in human nature-- the darkest depths of sin and depravity, as well as the potential for the greatest heights of courage, dignity and virtue.  We will look at the lives of a few people who managed to resist the evil, complacency and despair around them-- who managed to maintain a sense of purpose and dignity despite the degradation and, all too often, compliance surrounding them.  We will look at the lives of heroes.

Anne Frank

Anne Frank was a teenager who, with her family and four other people, was forced to go into hiding during World War II.  Anne and her family remained in hiding, with many people risking their lives to keep their location secret and to bring them food and supplies, for just over two years.  When the secret annex was discovered, Anne and the other Jews hiding with her were deported to concentration camps.  In 1945, after almost a year in concentration camps, Anne Frank died in Bergen-Belsen; she was just fifteen years old.  Two years after the war ended, Anne's diary (which had been saved by one of the people who had helped hide Anne and the others in the annex) was published.  Nowadays, the diary is widely read by people, especially teenagers, in over fifty languages.

"Despite all that has happened, I still believe people are good at heart,"  Anne Frank wrote in her diary.

Hannah Sennesch

Hannah Sennesch was born in Hungary, where she lived with her family until she was seventeen.  At that time, she made left to go to Palestine, and worked on a kibbutz there.  When the Jews began to be rounded up in Hungary, and sent to concentration camps, Hannah volunteered to join a group of young Zionists (people who work for the establishment and growth of a Jewish homeland in Palestine) to parachute in central Europe and help the partisans there.  In May of 1944 she reached Hungary, but was captured by the Nazis and condemned to death.  Hannah knew that leaving the safety of Palestine and parachuting into war-ravaged Europe would almost certainly result in death, but she volunteered anyway, out of love for her people. Just a few days before her capture, Hannah wrote a poem entitled "Blessed Is the Match".  Now, her dream of a Jewish homeland has been realized in the State of Israel, and Israeli shool children memorize her poem.

BLESSED IS THE MATCH Blessed is the match consumed In kindling flame. Blessed is the flame that burns In the secret fastness of the heart. Blessed is the heart with strength to stop Its beating for honor's sake. Blessed is the match consumed In kindling flame.

Janusz Korczak

Janusz Korczak was a Jewish pediatrician, writer and educator who ran an orphanage in Poland.  He was known for his progresive views on education, and believed that children should be raised with the utmost love and respect for their individuality and independance.  As the war progressed, Korczak and his orphans were forced to more into the ghetto, where they lived in constant danger of starvation and death from cold and disease.  Even in the midst of all these sufferings, Korczak refused an opportunity to escape, not wanting to leave his children helpless.  When the Nais ordered him to lead his orphans to trains going to Treblinka (a concentration camp), Korczak led them himself through the streets of the Warsaw Ghetto, holding two small children in his arms.  He did not tell the children where they were going, because he didn't want them to be afraid, so he had the children sing songs as they marched along.  One of the orphans walking next to him played a fiddle, and another carried a flag he had designed-- a bright banner with flowers and a Star of David.  Eyewitnesses record that the children were laughing as they marched, becuse Korczak was telling them funny stories to keep them from being scared.  Although he was told that he could leave the children at the platform and go, Korczak refused and stayed with the orphans, going with them to their death in the concentration camp.

"You do not leave a sick child in the night, and you do not leave children at a time like this."-- Janusz Korczak on why he would not leave his orphans behind to escape the Ghetto